Sunday, 24 April 2011

Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Fruit cake and marzipan

Chances are if you’ve ever been at home during the week and turned on the television, you will have come across the legend David Dickinson hosting either Bargain Hunt or, more recently, Dickinson’s Real Deals. What this man doesn’t know about antiques simply isn’t worth knowing but it’s his flamboyant style and eccentric turns of phrase that have made him such a well-loved TV personality.Items aren’t a bargain they’re “cheap as chips” and female contestants are always called ‘girls’ regardless of their age.

I knew that any cake selected by ‘The Duke’ would be a right bobby dazzler and he didn’t disappoint. He sent a very lovely reply to my query re his favourite cake written with a proper ink pen in artistic and flowing handwriting – it really made my day receiving it!

David selected a Christmas cake. He reminisces about his grandmother making the fruit cake a couple of months before Christmas, then later making the marzipan. I love the way he describes licking out the bowl as “heaven” – a sentiment I can totally understand! This was the cake that stood out in his memory but he adds that having an ‘old fashioned’ gran, he was never short of wonderful cake. Yet again, it highlights to me that cake is so cemented in our psyches probably as much for the people we connect it to as the actual cake.

To set about making The Duke’s request I used my Christmas fruit cake recipe and a new marzipan recipe to make a Simnel cake. Simnel cake is a traditional Easter cake comprising of fruit cake with a marzipan topping. The marzipan balls on top symbolise the apostles (minus Judas). I’m not really one for religious symbolism so jazzed the design up with some chicks.Incidentally, when the CCD (Caked Crusader’s Da) saw the cake he asked why it had pickled onions on it!

Now anyone who read my recent Battenberg cake post will know that I sometimes struggle with marzipan. Not any more!I came across this easy-peasy recipe and, what do you know?It produces awesome marzipan in a matter of minutes, and it’s all made in one bowl – no heating eggs in bowls balanced on saucepans.The only small issue to point out is that it contains raw egg, so anyone slightly vulnerable with health issues shouldn’t eat it. The recipe is set out below.

My other Easter bakes were :

Easter biscuits (recipe can be found HERE) – they’re so tasty I have to make them every year!

Strawberry, blackberry and raspberry cheesecake (recipe can be found HERE) – no reason other than it’s delicious!

Place the almonds and both sugars into a bowl and stir until combined. I did this in my Kitchenaid mixer.

Add the egg yolks and almond extract and mix until well combined.

Add a spoonful of the egg white and beat, continue to add tablespoonfuls of egg white until the marzipan forms into a firm ball.

Roll the marzipan out between two sheets of clingfilm – this means you don’t have to add any more icing sugar to it, plus peel off only one sheet of clingfilm when you wish to position on the cake – you have far more control over it while the clingfilm supports it (obviously put it face down on the cake i.e. so the clingfilm is on top!)

Peel off the clingfilm.

Cut the marzipan to size.

For this cake I rolled out about half of the marzipan to cover the top of the cake and used the rest for the balls.

I so love this post, especially your comments about "the Duke". It made me laugh out loud,for the uninitiated you have described him perfectly. I'm so glad he is a real letter writer,anything less, and I would have been disappointed.

I will have to make your Cheesecake tomorrow (hubby's favourite), it looks wonderful.

Oh I am sitting here laughing at the 'pickled onions' The cake looks fabulous and I love the little chick sitting as if wondering where the slice went.Cheesecake wow. Mouthwatering.I have taken note of your biscuit recipe as it looks so good.Happy Easter :)

It's a bobby dazzler alright! I used to love watching him - always wondering about his perma-tan!Fantastic series - can't wait to see who is next!I love the cheesecake even more - mainly because I'm not very keen on marzipan!! Hope you had a lovely Easter

The fruit cheesecake looks absolutely amazing! Also, I've never watched Dickinson’s Real Deals but I watched Bargain Hunt (I think it was on around the same time as Ready Steady Cook...?). I'm sure 'The Duke' would have liked these cakes :)

Read this great novel!

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The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

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About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

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Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

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If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.